Chapter XI: Yara's Blade (Part 2) - Book 1: Heir of the Kingdom

Twelve years ago, during the time when chaos and blood were ravaging the Kingdom, a dreadful swordsman began to use his unprincipled and emotionless blade to slice out a piece of territory on Black Street. The newly born Brotherhood of Black Street, together with the long reined Blood Bottle gang, are like two vicious dragons in an endless death or alive battle for the hegemony over the underworld of Eternal Star and even the Stella Kingdom.

As time pa.s.sed by, especially in recent years, the Black Street Brotherhood gradually grew from a young dragon to a giant one with sharp fangs and fierce claws, and on equal ground, even rivaled Blood Bottle gang who previously secured the upper hand. In their long-term struggle, the two major gangs also gathered a group of dreadful men existing outside the Kingdom's vision, setting off waves of bloodshed within the dark underworld.

Among them, more than a dozen masters each from Black Street Brotherhood and Blood Bottle gang have become the front lines of the conflict, representing the most promising youngsters and future generations of the two major gangs. Compared to the three mysterious Legendary a.s.sa.s.sin of the Brotherhood, the Great Six leaders who only fought a few times, the Blood Bottle's  two terrifying magus and the abnormal eight warriors with mystical powers, even the beggars are also more familiar with the names of these young masters.

Baldhead Sebas is the most mysterious one out of Blood Bottle's twelve masters (for now, only 12 left), called "The Twelve Strongest". He was responsible for collecting Blood Bottle "black account", rarely showed his face in a large-scale battle so no one could know to tell the tales of his martial arts and fighting capability. But he stood without fall in the storm of b.l.o.o.d.y gang war for five years, while at the same time, the enemies whom he fought against, including many Brotherhood's masters with outstanding strength, have already become white-as-snow pile of bones.

Yara didn't say anything, only simply exercised her wrist a little.

"Drano was an idiot. I was disgusted with the idea of using corpses to ambush, but still, I had to thank him for his death. Otherwise I wouldn't know we have an uninvited guest."

Sebas' grin was ugly. He took his enormously scary five-faced mace off his shoulder, held it with both hands, and seemed to effortlessly swing it back and forth.

Yara suddenly disappeared from where she was standing.

Baldhead Sebas, still smiling uninterestedly, fiercely turned his body!

"Ding !Dang!"

The five-faced mace, which is twice as thick as the arm of an ordinary person, clashed on the front with the two wolfleg knives. From the rush to the left rear, Yara, who was preparing for a strike, was swept out of balance and sent flying backwards!

Thales' heart suddenly tightened!

Fortunately, Yara took control of the balance again in midair, and with a beautiful backflip, landed on the ground.

Baldhead Sebas bit his teeth and swung his weapon around, like smas.h.i.+ng a baseball bat in Thales' pervious life.

He truly has terrifying strength - Thales suddenly felt a bit strange, but if it's only overwhelming strength, then what's with the mystery surrounding Sebas' reputation?

"Really horrifying speed, but if I'm aware of your existence, it's not that difficult to stop you using my fighting instincts."

Sebas' fierce nose, following by his trembling smile, was even more frightening.

Yara didn't speak a word but disappeared again. In the next moment, her lowered body appeared in front of Sebas' left leg.

The two knives reached out.

But Sebas only needed take a small step, dodged to his side, and then used the momentum of his body… for another smas.h.!.+

"Bam!"

The mace smashed on the stone floor, splas.h.i.+ng out a burst of peddles!

Yara riskily rolled to the side, avoiding this deadly strike in the nick of time.

"So there are actually knives with curved blade like this, such a rare weapon — Come here, little girl, whether you are an a.s.sa.s.sin or not, when you're dealing with a prepared enemy, the sudden attacks you're so proud of won't work anymore."

Squatting on the ground, Yara seemed to be thinking about countermeasures.

"What will you do? You couldn't rush forward just like that."

"After all, this is the only way if you want to enter the Red Lane Street."

Sebas has been using words to disturb Yara.

Thales' heart was getting more and more nervous.

He knows that currently, Yara is the only one whom he can depend on to flee the Red Lane Street and the Brotherhood, but he was more worried about her own safety at the moment.

Not to mention Sebas' mysterious reputation.

Yara's expression was hidden behind the goggles, but she seemed to have made up her mind and slowly stands up. The reserved wolfleg knives on her hands turned over at the same time and got to a straight position.

After so many years - Yala smiled bitterly in the bottom of her heart - I still need to use this move?

Thales gulped nervously. He had witnessed Yara's ghostly flexibility and horrifying speed, but now, facing them was Sebas who was known for his strength and power, could her wolfleg knife still work against him?

And then.

Yara did not disappear again.

She stood in front of Sebas and rushed forward, head on.

Thales almost shouted out.

The two knives reached out, one after the other, the first one aimed straight toward Sebas' throat while the second one was pointing in the direction of the mace.

"Direct frontal a.s.sault? Please, stop trying to kill yourself!" Sebas exclaimed excitedly as his mace waved toward Yara!

"Hurrah!" The mace came along with the wind-tearing sound, rapidly attacking Yara's waist!

Afterwards, I will mold this pretty body of her with - huh?

Sebas was surprised to see that this time, Yara didn't block or retreat!

Right at the moment before the mace met her, her flexible body stretched out to an impossible angle!

While facing the mace in front of her, Yara was able to avoid the incoming strike with another backflip that almost caused Thales' jaw to drop in surprise!

Even Sebas was stunned.

This kind of movement - how did she do it?

The attack had not yet over.

The female bartender gently pressed the second knife on the tip of the mace, and by borrowing Sebas' momentum, leaping to the bald man's left shoulder!

Then the front knife suddenly cut down!

The modified curvature of the blade allows the wolfleg knife to cut the left side of Sebas' neck faster, stronger and deadlier than usual blades.

"Tore!"

Sebas angrily roared and retreated to protect his vital spot at the critical moment, but a burst of blood still spurted from his left shoulder.

This girl, she completely abandoned defending herself and used risky dodges to attack directly?

Doesn't she know, with just a slip, it means death?

However, Yara was unforgiving, her foot took a step up as she continued the a.s.sault!

Only to see her flipped in midair again and neatly avoided Sebas' mace in a flash.

The wolfleg knives on both hands followed their owner and spin toward Sebas.

It was another b.l.o.o.d.y sight. This time, Yara cut open the baldhead's right rib!

Then the next blade!

Rus.h.i.+ng forward, she perfectly showed the flexibility and agility of her body. Facing Sebas' terrifying strikes,  she dodged and leaped to the side often at the moment right before contacting the mace, and on several occasions, Thales saw the tip of her nose riskily pa.s.sed by the rusty nails on the mace.

At the same time, the rhythm and speed of Yara's attacks were relentless and even deadlier than when she was ambushed.

On the contrary, under her continuous risky, concentrated and yet a thousand times more dangerous attacks, though Sebas' roars was seemingly horrifying, even Thales could see that his body was constantly hurt and bled since he was already in a severe situation, unable to defend himself.

It can't go on like this! Sebas was thinking in panic - this kind of precise dodging, how could she not make a single misstep?

"Dang!"

Sebas roared angrily and tried his best to block off an attack, then struggled to roll away (imagine a bear-like man, forced by a slender girl whose height is only two-thirds of him to roll on the ground), to avoid this round of offense and quickly open the gap.

"This - this is the Hateful Blade!"

This sentence, like a stone breaking the surface of water, finally broke the chain of Yara's relentless attacks and stopped her.

"And before that, the move you used to kill Drano is probably the Hidden Blade!"

Sebas panted violently. He looked terrified and shouted with disbelief: "The Hateful Blade, I only saw it a long time ago in the hands of Lourdes Surrey - 'the b.l.o.o.d.y Chant'! You -- you are a woman from 'the Flowers of a.s.sa.s.sin' - house Surrey!"

Yara didn't say a word while kneeling on one leg - it seems that she prefers this posture which can generate greater momentum - only looked at the large man coldly.

"This is impossible!" Sebas seemed like he had suffered a psychological shock. "The people of house Surrey have escaped from Stellar Kingdom after the succession of Ka.s.sel the Fifth and disappeared abroad! Why are you here? Why are you on the Brotherhood's side?"

He said with disbelief: "Wanted warrants and rewards have long been posted all around the entire Western continent! With the felony crime of murdering members of the royal family, and you actually dare to come to Eternal Star! Aren't you afraid of being encircled and exterminated by the army and the Royal Guard?"

"If even house Surrey is strong again, even if the Brotherhood of Black Street is strong again, can you withstand the anger of 'the King of Iron fist' and the entire Stella Kingdom?"

However, the angered tone of baldhead Sebas from a moment before suddenly became softer in the next second:

"If I die here, your ident.i.ty will definitely be exposed! The Kingdom's Division of Secrets the will receive the news tomorrow morning, that house Surrey has returned to The Stars!"

"Ka.s.sel the Fifth will not let your people go! He will eradicate every single descendants and bloodlines of house Surrey!"

"But you can let me go," he whispered, already pleading with his groaning voice. "I don't give a rat a.s.s about Blood Bottle Gang's mission. Just pa.s.s through and let me go. I promise to leave The Stars tomorrow!"

"I won't reveal your secret either! I'm aware of your people's ability!"

"I too don't want to mess with house Surrey!"

But the next moment, Yara suddenly rush forward in front of him again!

"Dang - c.h.i.n.ked!"

This time, Sebas blocked the first knife, but the blade seemed like it had a life of its own, strangely and rapidly changed its direction. After knocking on his mace, it turned around even without any momentum!

Yala's head and chest also twisted like a soft ribbon and bypa.s.sed the mace in front of her.

It's just like a drifting human body - Thales mumbled in his mind.

What's going on, Sebas thought in horror, why can't I  -- stop the trajectory of this knife?

The knife on the right hand of the female bartender did not stop. After changing direction, it turned back to the original track again, and was even deadlier thrusting toward Sebas' neck!

Until it cut into his throat.

Blood was everywhere.

Sebas was shocked to see Yara sloppily wiped the blood on the blade using his clothes, then quietly withdrew her knife.

Baldhead Sebas dropped his mace gently.

"What is this - blade's style -"

Sebas struggled, wanting to ask only a thing before lying down.

But he couldn't finish the question.

At that moment, Taylors seemed to return to the trash pile behind the sunset bar four years ago, in front of a woman who was indifferent, waving the knife in her hand, facing the stunned boy and said:

"The Unceasing Blade, using it to slaughter a dog, not worth it -- Hey there, kid, do you want to eat dog meat? Call me big sis and you will have it!"

The Unceasing Blade, Thales knew that this is the Unceasing Blade.

The last fellow to enjoy this Blade was a big wolfury dog that had some minor conflicts with Thales ("About whether there should be humane issue with the cooking recipe of wolfury dog, we have just had a heated debate. At the same time I'm very grateful for your support of my point of view, sister - so, dog meat? - Thales).

Yara's skill surprised him again.

But what shocked Thales even more was what that baldhead Sebas just said, the truth surrounding "the Flowers of a.s.sa.s.sin", house Surrey.

Murdering members of the royal family?

The Flowers of a.s.sa.s.sin?

King - King slayers?

"What a bunch of nonsenses."

Yara looked at Sebas' corpse and coldly said.

"The so-called 'Twelve Strongest', that's it huh."

Finished her words, she called out to Thales who was still hiding in the dark.

"Let's go, little imp."

Tyres walked pa.s.s the corpse of baldhead Sebas, looking at his opened dead eyes. He still couldn't understand why Sebas, who only had the factor of strength and body size, who even lost his nose, would be pa.s.sed as the most mysterious existence of the Twelve Strongest.

Is Yara too strong?

He shook his head and went to Yarra.

Together, they continued to go to the Blood Bottle and the Brotherhood's battlefield.

Looking at the side of the female bartender's face, Thales cleverly didn't ask her about the matter of house Surrey.

I also have my secrets anyway, the transmigrator thought.

And it's even bigger than yours.

——————————————————

At the same time, at the Inner Altar of the Sunset Temple.

The grey-haired middle-aged n.o.bleman seemed to be calm at the moment, but in reality, his chest was filled with uneasiness as he waited on a stone chair under the altar.

His eyes had not left the small lantern on the altar that had been burning since.

As if he feared that the flame in the lamp may suddenly change.

Next to him was a praying elderly priestess, quiet and devotional.

This reminded the middle aged n.o.bleman of Joel, the terrifying man who was equally quiet, or even more so than her.

Despite his majesty's great confidence in Joel, who trusted that he "will not hesitate when the moment comes."

But Joel, that fellow who hides himself all day long behind the Violet Leucite Mask, he had worked with him once in his youth — and those aren't pleasant memories.

With his efficiency, he should have already found the target.

That fellow is a man with his own creed.

After all, he himself serves his majesty's will, and Joel Gatos, the man whom can't be seen through, also serves the interests of his majesty.

But the difference of social standing is like the difference between heaven and earth.

Joel, does he really know, or understand, the moment which His Majesty expects him to act?

——————————————————

A while later.

Sebas' corpse suddenly moved.

Then, the wounds around his neck quickly recovered at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.

Until the man reluctantly got up.

"Vile b.i.t.c.h!"

Sebas cursed and reached to his own mace.

"The member of house Surrey appeared in Eternal Star, normally this news is already enough for the City Hall to give me ten gold coins, but—"

Sebas touched the wound which had just healed on his neck.

In the end this petty life is still more important.

Fortunately, the woman was in a hurry didn't look back.

The reason why Sebas was one of the Twelve Strongest in Blood Bottle, his fighting instinct and skills naturally need not to be described, but more importantly was his obscure self-healing mystical power, which often allows him to turn the table at the moment when the enemy relax.

"As long as the head - precisely, the brain is not destroyed, you can return from death -" this is what a real de facto leader of the Blood Bottle gang, the Magus of Blood, told Sebas:

"Congratulations to you, Sebas the immortal."

And the other boy, the immortal Sebas thought, when he was in a state of suspended animation, he saw a thin boy in the corner of the street followed the woman from house Surrey.

This is also a strange point. The boy who can follow a Surrey woman is certainly not an ordinary child.

Is he a genius? Is he having some kind of ability to change the tide of battlefield?

A living weapon?  A ma.s.s destruction weapon?

Or a certain type of long-live demi-human species? The boy looked young, but maybe he is already several hundred or thousand years old?

Sebas picked up his mace and frowned.

After reporting this news to the Magus of Air, I will-

But his thoughts were interrupted.

Because suddenly there was a strange person, wearing a strange mask, appeared in front of Sebas.

.

"You saw the boy."

What the strange mask man said with an indistinguishable hoa.r.s.e voice was not a question, but an affirmative sentence

Who is this?

I wasn't aware of his existence at all.

Sneaking around without tracks, is he also a member of house Surrey?

The strange mask seems to be made of a hard darken-violet metal with distinct edges, only the position of the eyes was drilled into two round holes, covered with round Leucite lenses. The lenses appear to have copper-yellow machinery devices behind it.

The reason why Sebas can think about so many details was because beside thinking about them, there was nothing else he could do.

The man with darken violet mask held a baselard sword in his right hand.

This short sword, under its owner's manipulation, once again cut the freshly healed wound on Sebas' neck.

Sebas' mind didn't even have the chance to give birth to the concept of "escape", he was already cut alive.

"Clanged!"

Along with his mace, Sebas fell again.

So unlucky - Sebas thought so, ready for the next death and resurrection.

But Sebas, in the perception after faking his death, was surprised to find that the masked man didn't leave.

The strange masked man, behind the mask, frowned a tiny bit.

Only to see him slowly squatted down and stared at Spence's wounds.

A moment later, the strange masked man nodded in realization.

In Sebas' perception, he was desperate to discover that the sword on the masked man's right hand gently danced and drew a beautiful trace.

No.

DON'T!

Sebas screamed in the bottom of his heart with a tremendous fear!

Then with his eyes opened, Sebas "watched" this strange man, from the temple point, skillfully thrust the sword into his brain.

And pulled out the tip.

The smooth blade didn't even have a drop of blood on it.

"As long as the head - precisely, the brain is not destroyed, you can return from death -"

In the middle of being panic, Sebas seemed to hear the words of the Magus of Blood again.

And since then, one of the Blood Bottle's Twelve Strongest, baldhead Sebas, also known as "immortal Sebas" among the Blood Bottle's inner members, no longer regained consciousness.

The strange masked man squatted down, his right hand brushed away the debris over a knife mark on the ground.

A trace of a wolfleg knife flying into the ground appeared.

He stood up.

Then disappeared.

Like a ghost.

End of Chapter XI - Next chapter: The Magus

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Translator's note: Sometime, characters will refer to Stella Kingdom as the Stars, a shorten version of it (because the name is literal translated to the Kingdom of Stars)